Liberal MP stands by his decision to question Trudeau’s pandemic response: ‘Damn right’

"Damn right," said Powlowski to the Commons health committee. "Am I going to say something to my own government, to my own Party, when I have health concerns of my constituents in mind? Damn right I am... And you know what? No one in the Party has yet given me much grief over that," said Powlowski.

"Certainly it would be a sad state of affairs if you can't send emails to your colleagues and people within the Party making suggestions."

"What was my criticism? My criticism is I think there’s a better way we can do things than the way we are," he continued.

"What are you supposed to do, not send such things to your own Party? You're supposed to stay quiet when you see things happen? I don't think that is in anybody's best interests. I will continue to look after the interests of my constituents.”

In a series of internal emails, Dr. Powlowski, who served as a health consultant for the World Health Organization (WHO), wrote that it was "hard to have faith" in Trudeau when it came to acquiring ventilators: "It is hard to have faith we are addressing the issue of procuring ventilators as soon as we have to, because I spoke to the owners of the two companies that actually make things in Canada," he wrote in a March 22 email to the Deputy Government House Leader.

"I am sorry if the party may be pissed off I actually talked to companies but I have reason to doubt preparedness," the email continued. "We should have moved on this over a month ago. Over the weekend nothing has happened. Sorry, pandemics don't take the weekend off."

"What can the relevant ministries tell me to reassure the health care workers that we are doing everything we can to get those masks?" he wrote on June 7.

The doctor also noted that the amount of bureaucratic red tape in the process had made things so non-transparent that it had become ineffective.

"I, and I think a lot of people, would have more faith in our ability to do this quickly and effectively if we know there is a transparent process as to how we are doing things," wrote Powlowski, reports Blacklock's Reporter.

"As I have said, it is hard now to accept reassurances that we are prepared, that we are doing all of the right things, when we can never, ever get any specifics as to what we are doing and how we are going to do it."

Powlowski, who also holds two law degrees, works as a doctor in the Thunder Bay area and has in the past stood in stark contrast to the positions held by the Liberal Party, including on the controversial Medical Assistance In Dying bill.